Review: You Weren’t There, but He Was: Kill a Punk for Rock and Roll, by Marty Perez
According to the foreword of Kill a Punk for Rock and Roll, music photographer Marty Perez is a very likable guy. The fact that providing a bio in the book […]
Review: The Epic Question Mark of Western Lit, Homer: The Very Idea, by James I. Porter
Nobody knows anything about Homer except what’s in the Iliad and the Odyssey, and, even there, it gets dicey, as James I. Porter details in his challenging and provocative Homer: […]
Review: When Illinois Base Ball (sic) Was for Fun, Ballists, Dead Beats, and Muffins: Inside Early Baseball in Illinois, by Robert D. Sampson
In the handful of years after the Civil War, Illinoisans went crazy for baseball, a game that was then spelled as two words “base ball.” By 1868, however, an editor of […]
Review: Ignoring and Then Extracting Ghetto Gold, White Burgers, Black Cash, by Naa Oyo A. Kwate
Naa Oyo A. Kwate, the author of White Burgers, Black Cash: Fast Food from Black Exclusion to Exploitation, will be in conversation with Stacey Sutton on Thursday, April 27, at […]
Review: Used Records & Tapes Zine Offers Plenty of Memories and Music
According to both mainstream and social media, Generation X spends half its time being ignored and the other half feeling uncomfortably “seen.” In the most current example of “seen-ness,” Gen […]
Review: The Marshal Who “Could Spit and Bust a Brick in Two,” Black Gun, Silver Star, by Art T. Burton
It is important that there is a book such as Art T. Burton’s Black Gun, Silver Star: The Life and Legend of Frontier Marshall Bass Reeves to ensure the memory […]
2022 in Review: A Lit Retrospective
What was 2022 like in the world of Chicago, Illinois, and Midwest letters? I’ve asked the Lit section writers to share their favorite reviews and stories of the past year. […]
Review: Gay Old Times, Last Call Chicago, by Rick Karlin and St. Sukie de la Croix
Last Call Chicago is not a narrative book. Rather it is an extensive listing with brief descriptions of 1,001 LGBTQ and LGBTQ-friendly bars and such. But it is also a […]
Interview: Making Fun—Jeffrey Breslow’s 30+ Years of Toy and Game Making
Some jobs don’t sound like work. A perfect example: Jeffrey Breslow’s decades-long career as a designer, developer, and partner at one of the most successful toy- and game-making companies of […]
Review: The City in Your Pocket, AIA Guide to Chicago
Chicago is so much more than its buildings…still they’re hard to miss. Ever since Jean Baptiste Point Du Sable built his home on the Chicago River’s banks, structures have risen […]
Interview: Hearts Beat Still—Maggie Schmieder, Author of Hopeful Hearts in Highland Park
Hopeful Hearts in Highland Park is author Maggie Duplace Schmieder’s attempt to make sense out of something senseless. She and her family attended the Highland Park Independence Day parade this […]
Review: Open Heart Chicago: An Anthology of Chicago Writing, Edited by Vincent Francone
One of the many gifts of Vincent Francone’s new anthology of Chicago stories, Open Heart Chicago, is learning what it’s like to wander around Marquette Park while tripping on acid. […]